SHILLONG, OCT 9: NPP State President and Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong has said the NPP is the only national party to emerge from the North East and credited it with keeping the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) out of Meghalaya and intervening on the FCRA amendment.
Addressing an election campaign at Mylliem for NPP’s Shillong Lok Sabha byelection candidate Dr DRL Nonglait, Tynsong said the party’s national status has brought recognition and real benefits to the state.
“Think about it, from the 8 states of the North East, only NPP is a National Party, even Assam does not have a single national party. When we say National Party it means the Election Commission has assessed from all sides what kind of party deserves to be a National Party,” Tynsong said.
“It is God’s special love for Meghalaya. In 2019, the ECI informed our President Conrad K Sangma that the NPP now deserves to be called a National Party,” he said.
Listing the benefits, Tynsong pointed to the party’s office at North Avenue in New Delhi. “The Government of India has to give an office in Delhi. Now NPP in Delhi has an office with the photo of P.A. Sangma, Conrad K Sangma and myself. Within the North East, is there any party that originated from these states that has an office in Delhi? Not a single one,” he said.
“Meghalaya is small in population, but the capital city Delhi knows this state. In 2019 going backwards, no one talked about Meghalaya. But from 2019 onwards, as soon as you say Meghalaya, they remember North Avenue in Delhi,” he said.
Recalling the anti-CAA protests of 2019, Tynsong said, “We remember what happened in 2019 during CAB, it was almost like burning in the North East. Conrad K Sangma led a delegation of political parties from the North East and NGOs from Meghalaya and met Amit Shah. We said Meghalaya has to function according to the Sixth Schedule. It entered Amit Shah’s brain. After a week he informed Conrad and said, ‘It is true, the Sixth Schedule is fully operational in Meghalaya except for some places called European Ward, for that reason CAA will not be implemented’.”
“Think about it, other states implement it, but in Meghalaya it is not implemented, those are signs of what the Party does,” he said.
On the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), Tynsong said, “Now there is one more issue that everyone in the North East is afraid of, the amendment of FCRA. Through the NPP, through our National President who is also Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, he led many religious organisations to meet leaders in Delhi. Because of that, this Amendment Bill was sent to the JPC to examine it.”
“From the North East there was not a single member in the JPC. Conrad went again to meet the Speaker and in the end the Speaker appointed James P.K. Sangma. Is that not an honour?” he said.
Tynsong also hit out at critics who label NPP as an outsider or Garo party.
“I want to ask, what words have they not used to throw stones at the NPP? That NPP is a dkhar party, a Garo party, that NPP is a party that cannot be talked to. You can throw stones however you want, but one day you will say we need the support of the NPP,” he said.
He appealed to voters to support Dr Nonglait, saying, “Let us work together, give full support to Dr Nonglait, so that he becomes our MP and he will also sit in that place where we have put the office, so that people of Meghalaya will feel safe and get inspired when they see the photos of great leaders from a small state like Meghalaya.”
